Buildings require an abundance of cables to be installed that deliver services such as the internet, telephone and electricity. Examples of such cables are electrical cables, coaxial cables, network cables, alarm cables and the like. These cables are often hung or laid in an overhead space for neatness, safety, and to prevent interference of the cables with activities in a room and to prevent the cables from being damaged by people or objects.
Cables are sometimes simply placed on top of the ceiling tiles of a suspended ceiling. This is undesirable for several reasons. First, the laying of several cables or a bundle of cables may cause some or all of the ceiling tiles to sag, which is aesthetically unpleasant and may cause damage to the ceiling tiles. Second, it is against the law in several jurisdictions to lay cables in this fashion and it is considered to be a potential fire hazard with certain types of cables.
Cables may also be suspended directly using wire or tape; however, this method can be time consuming and cumbersome to both install and uninstall the cables. Furthermore, suspending cables with wire may deform or otherwise damage the cables because the wire is of a small diameter and puts significant pressure on the cables. Also, it is manually cumbersome to link wire or tape together to form more complex cable hangers which may be desirable to organize cables and to isolate cables from such things as high temperature lighting, low voltage electrical cables and other cables that were previously installed.
Custom devices are known in the prior art for laying cables. Such devices are often designed for high voltage systems and are too large and cumbersome to deploy for smaller gauge cables.
A cable management system for supporting cables is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,000. The device includes a flexible spine and a plurality of support members, some of which are attached to the spine. The device is capable of supporting cables in an overhead space; however, the device can be difficult to use and install when laying longer cables because it comprises a single spine despite the number of support members that may be required.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and/or device for supporting suspended cables.